Index Archive

26 October 2014

Analysis of assets income of Union Council of MinistersAnalysis of Assets Declarations of Union Council of Ministers

The declaration of assets by the Ministers has been made according to the Code of Conduct issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs1 which states that: “...A person immediately after entering office as a minister, and in any case within a period of two months from the date of assumption of office, shall disclose to the Prime Minister, or the Chief Minister, as the case may be details of the assets and liabilities, and of business interests, of himself and of members of his family.

The details to be disclosed shall consist of particulars of all immovable property and the total approximate value of (i) Shares and debentures, (ii) Cash holdings (iii) Jewellery. Such a Statement of assets and liabilities could be in respect of the financial year for which the income tax return has already been filed by the Minister…” “…After taking office, and so long as he remains in office, the Minister shall:- a) Furnish annually by 31st August to the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister, as the case may be, a declaration regarding the details of assets and liabilities of himself and of members of his family for the previous financial year”.

For comparison of assets of Union Council of Ministers from Lok Sabha, ADR considered their election affidavits from 2014 Lok Sabha Elections and compared it with their asset declarations on the PMO’s website as on 10th October, 2014

For comparison of assets of Union Council of Ministers from Rajya Sabha, who did not contest the Lok Sabha 2014 elections, ADR considered their most recent Rajya Sabha Election affidavit, hence the date and year of the affidavit might vary.

Association Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) have analyzed the declarations all 45 Union Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister and compared it with the assets declared by them in their last election affidavit/asset declaration.

SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS

The declarations of 45 ministers were analyzed out of which 37 ministers had contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 8 Rajya Sabha ministers who had not contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

41 (91%) of the Ministers are crorepatis based on their declarations to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The average assets of Ministers according to their declarations on the PMO website is Rs. 14.32 crores.

The lowest assets have been declared by Shri Sudarshan Bhagat of BJP (Rs. 59.13 lakhs) followed by Shri Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava of the BJP (Rs. 65.71 lakhs) and Shri Ramvilas Paswan of LJP (Rs. 95.71 lakhs).

Comparison of Assets for Ministers who contested the Lok Sabha Elections in 2014

Among the Ministers who contested Lok Sabha 2014 elections, the highest increase in assets in 5 months has been shown by Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda of the BJP (Cabinet Minister for Railways). His assets have shown an increase of Rs. 10.46 crores (from Rs. 9.88 crores as declared in Lok Sabha 2014 elections to Rs. 20.35 crores in the 2014 declarations of the Union Council of inisters to the PMO).

He is followed by Shri Radhakrishnan P of the BJP (Minister of State, Independent Charge, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises) who has shown an increase of Rs. 2.98 crores (from Rs. 4.09 crores in Lok Sabha 2014 to Rs. 7.07 crores in the disclosure to the PMO)

And Shri Arun Jaitley of the BJP (Cabinet Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Defence) who showed an increase of Rs. 1.01 crores (from Rs. 113.02 crores in Lok Sabha 2014 to Rs. 114.03 crores in the 2014 disclosure to the PMO).

16 Ministers have shown a decrease in assets.

The highest decrease has been shown by Smt. Sushma Swaraj of BJP (Cabinet Minister, External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs) who showed a decrease of Rs. 3.89 crores (from Rs. 17.55 crores declared in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to Rs. 13.65 crores declared in the 2014 disclosure to the PMO).

She is followed by Gen. V.K. Singh (Retd.) of BJP (Minister of State, Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge), External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs) who declared a decrease of Rs. 3.13 crores (from 4.11 crores declared in the 2014 Lok Sabha lections to Rs. 98.27 lakhs declared in the 2014 disclosure to the PMO) followed by Dr. Harsh Vardhan of BJP (Cabinet Minister, Health and Family Welfare) who declared a decrease of Rs. 1.28 crores (from 2.82 crores declared in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to Rs. 1.54 crores declared in the 2014 disclosure to the PMO)

ADR and NEW analyzed in depth, the declarations of Ministers who contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 with an increase or decrease in assets of more than Rs. 50 lakhs.

Upon analysis it was found that the cause of changes in assets for many Ministers is largely due to the lack of any standardized format for ministers’ asset declarations. Many Ministers (as may be evidenced from the table given below) have not given the value for many assets declared. Not declaring the value of assets in the Ministers’ declaration is akin to not making a disclosure at all. Apart from that, some Ministers have not given the present market value of the immovable assets they have declared on the PMO website.

The purpose of the Ministers’ declaration is to encourage financial transparency.

That purpose is belied when the declarations are not made in the spirit of the instructions issued by the MHA. It is strongly recommended that the asset declarations should be made in a standard format, preferably in the format of the election affidavit.

Comparison of Assets for Rajya Sabha Ministers who had not contested the Lok Sabha Elections in 2014

Rajya Sabha Ministers elected in 2010: Shri Piyush Goyal (Minister of State, Independent Charge for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy) has shown an increase in assets of Rs. 64.31 crores (212%) in 4 years from Rs. 30.34 crores as declared in his Rajya Sabha affidavit in 2010 to Rs. 94.66 crores as declared in his declarations on the PMO website.

M. Venkaiah Naidu (Cabinet Minister for Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs) has shown an increase in total assets of Rs.2.18 crores (28%) in 4 years from Rs. 7.72 crores as declared in his Rajya Sabha affidavit in 2010 to Rs. 9.91 crores in his declarations on the PMO website.

Rajya Sabha Ministers elected in 2012: Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad (Cabinet Minister for Communications and Information Technology and Law and Justice) has shown an increase in total assets of Rs.4.85 crores (37%) in 2 years from Rs. 13.26 crores as declared in his Rajya Sabha affidavit in 2012 to Rs. 18.11 crores in his declarations on the PMO website.

Dr. Najma A. Heptulla (Cabinet Minister for Minority Affairs) has shown an increase in assets of Rs. 2.81 crores (10%) in 2 years from Rs. 26.88 crores as declared in her Rajya Sabha affidavit in 2012 to Rs. 29.69 crores as declared in her declarations on the PMO website.

Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot (Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment) has shown an increase in total assets of Rs.2.78 crores (323%) in 2 years from Rs. 86.12 lakhs as declared in his Rajya Sabha affidavit in 2012 to Rs. 3.64 crores in his declarations on the PMO website.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan (Minister of State, Independent Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas) has shown an increase in total assets of Rs.93.88 lakhs (61%) in 2 years from Rs. 1.54 crores as declared in his Rajya Sabha affidavit in 2012 to Rs. 2.48 crores in his declarations on the PMO website.

Rajya Sabha Ministers elected in 2014: Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman (Minister of State, Independent Charge for Commerce and Industry, Finance and Corporate Affairs) has not shown any change in total assets. Her declared assets in the PMO website and her Rajya Sabha affidavit is Rs. 2.61 crores.

Shri Prakash Javadekar (Minister of State, Independent Charge for Information and Broadcasting, Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Parliamentary Affairs) has shown an decrease in assets of Rs. 32 lakhs (-10%) in 4 months from Rs. 3.39 crores as declared in his Rajya Sabha affidavit in 2012 to Rs. 3.07 crores as declared in his declarations on the PMO website.

Recommendations , Reforms Required Suggested

1. There is no standard format for disclosure of assets under the Code of Conduct issued by the MHA. This has led to a discrepancy in the quality of disclosures by different Ministers. It is recommended that all asset declarations be made in a standard format similar to the affidavits submitted to the Election Commission of India during filing of nomination papers by candidates.

2. It was observed that even though the Code of Conduct states clearly that the asset disclosures should also be accompanied by the business interests, none of the Ministers have declared any financial/pecuniary interest in their declarations.

The format for declarations should make it mandatory for the Ministers to also disclose their business interests along with the asset details.

3. The Code of Conduct should also make it mandatory for the Ministers to disclose their IT returns in public interest. This will further the spirit of transparency and accountability in the disclosures by the Ministers.